Unbreakable Promise
by simple charm
Summary: In this world, it is law that wizards and sorcerers can never be equals. Discover how some laws are meant to be broken, and some promises are meant to be kept. [Not a HP crossover.]
1. In the Beginning

New story! New story! Yay! Enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Me? Own Cardcaptor Sakura? You've got to be kidding.

**/Chapter 1: _In The Beginning_/**

_"Okaa-san, could you tell me the story of The Origin again?" A four-year old girl, with innocent emerald eyes that she'd recieved from her mother, and short auburn hair from her father, asked politely._

_"Alright, but you need to go to sleep after this, okay?" The girl in bed nodded eagerly._

_"You promise?"_

_"Hai! Hai!"_

_"Alright... A long time ago, when wizards, sorcerers, and nonmagic people lived together..."_

**/3 Years Later.../**

"...And that's the story of The Origin, famous for the fact that it's the whole reason that the world is the way it is today," Sakura finished, smiling at her older brother. They were in the main room, sitting on the red carpet that led from the wooden double doors to the opposite end.

"Wow, that's amazing. You actually remembered all that... kaiju." Touya replied calmly.

"Sakura kaiju janai mo(1)!" She yelled, her foot slamming down on his.

"Itai!" He hissed, shooting his eight-year old sister a glare. She smiled in satisfaction. _That'll teach you,_ she thought. Well, until he pulled out a stick and waved it. She rose into the air. With a loud cry of "Hoe!", she began flailing wildly. The doors opened with a bang and someone ran in.

"Touya! Stop that!" The silver-haired boy with glasses shouted the fourteen-year old. Touya sighed and released her, which prompted the silver-haired boy to run and catch her.

"Yukito-san!" Sakura cried, startled. "What are you doing here?" Yukito was the messenger for the king and queen of the entire kingdom, and they rarely ever saw him in Mizuki Castle. He gently put her down and turned back to Touya.

"You know you shouldn't do that to your sister, Touya. It's not nice. Sakura-chan could have a heart attack or something!" He lectured his best friend. Touya sighed again. Sakura blinked. Yukito had never answered her question!

"Yuki -" But before Touya could continue, a girl leapt onto him, knocking the wind out of him. Choking, Touya turned his head to see Akizuki Nakuru, who was grinning like an idiot. Well, she _was_ an idiot in Touya's mind, but let's not get into that.

"Ah! Akizuki, get off!" He managed to croak between the cheers of "Touya-kun!" and his choking problem. The brown-haired girl on his back laughed, shaking her head.

"No way! This is fun!" She retorted, still laughing. Sakura giggled, and turned to Yukito, who was smiling and shaking his head.

"Get off, onegai!" He snapped, before his eyes lit up. He sent Yukito a pleading look. With a sigh and a small smile, Yukito lifted his hand, which began to glow blue. Then, he brought both of his hands together, one glowing and one not, and put them together, palms touching. Then his other hand started glowing, and as soon as that happened, he brought his hands apart. He concentrated his brown eyes on Touya and Nakuru. Suddenly, they both glowed blue, and seperated. The glow disappeared from his hands as Nakuru huffed loudly.

"You never let me have any fun," she complained. With a red flash of light, she disappeared. Sakura stared in awe. She couldn't wait until she could do things like that.

"So, Yuki, why are you here?" Touya asked, using Yukito's pet name.

"Well, I actually came here to see the princess," Yukito admitted, looking around. "But it seems she's not here," he added. Since the king and queen were out on a trip, the princess was in charge for the moment.

"She doesn't spend time in here, only her parents do," Touya said, before turning to Sakura.

"Imouto-chan(2), go see if you can find her." Sakura smiled. At least he hadn't used 'kaiju' again. _Although calling me that was probably to prevent me from stomping on him again,_ she thought as she pulled the double doors shut behind her.

As soon as she left the room, Touya turned back to Yukito.

"So, how's the royal family you're working for doing?"

**/Somewhere else in the castle.../**

"Sumimasen!" Sakura cried for the fifth time. The servant she'd walked into just smiled forgivingly at her and walked past, clutching a pile of clothes tightly.

"Hoe... where is her room?" Sakura wondered out loud, and was startled when a voice inturrupted her thoughts.

"Whose room?" Sakura turned to see Sasaki Rika with her head quirked inquisitively. She was learning to be a seamstress in the castle, and spent her time making dolls and dresses.

"Ah, I'm looking for Mizuki-hime! Yukito-san wanted to see her!" Rika blinked, and then pointed down the hall.

"Her room is three doors down to the right. It's the one with the sign that says 'Kaho' on it." Sakura smiled at her.

"Arigatou Sasaki-san!" She ran off. In the wrong direction.

"Matte!" Rika cried. "You're going the wrong way!" Sakura froze in place.

"HOE!" She cried, turning and running past Rika. But, since her head was turned to the right, counting doors, she didn't see the person coming the other way. Since she was running, and the person was walking, she fell on top of said person.

"Ah! Gomen nasai!" Sakura cried, standing up. Then she blinked. The golden amber eyes were awfully familiar... and so was the long red-brown hair.

"Mizuki-hime! Gomen nasai! I can't believe it! I'm such a klutz!" Sakura cried, bowing over and over again. A bead of sweat trailed down the back of Mizuki Kaho's head.

"Dai-jou-bu." She said, enunciating every syllable slowly, and finishing off the sentence by quirking her head and smiling at her.

"I came to find you!" Sakura cried suddenly. "Yukito-san is here!" Kaho looked surprised.

"Did he bring news?"

"He didn't say, but we should get back! He's in the throne room!" Kaho nodded, and vanished in a golden light. Sakura sighed in despair. She wanted to do that! And now she had to find her way back again!

"I wish I could do that!" Rika cried, having also seen.

"Me too!" Sakura replied before running off. Rika giggled when she once again ran into another person.

"Ah! ...Otou-san?" Sakura asked, recognizing the brown-haired man. Behind him was her mother, who'd tripped over thin air, like she had the tendancy to do. Her father leaned over, offering her a hand. She accepted it, and he pulled her up.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Ano..." Oh no, she'd completely forgotten! Where _was_ she going? Her father turned to help her mother up. Then it hit her.

"Oh! Right! I was off to the throne room! Gomen! Ja matta!" She ran off, leaving three confused people in her wake.

**/In the Main/throne room.../**

A golden ball of light suddenly appeared in the corner of the room, attracting the attention of both Touya and Yukito. It disappeared to reveal Mizuki Kaho.

"What was it you wanted, Yukito-san? Sakura-chan seemed to be rather rushed about it."

"Ah, yes! The Li Kingdom has declared a new rule." He pulled out a scroll from his robes and broke the seal.

"Wizards and witches, who formally had no rights, are ordered to be burned at the stake. They will be killed in their rightful manner."

"WHAT?" Touya roared. "They can't do that!"

"They just did," Mizuki said gravely. "Tell them that they have no jurisdiction over my part of the kingdom. If they are to burn anyone who lives here, it will mean that they have declared war on my kingdom. I will be forced to excercise my rights as princess and heir to the throne if that happens. And they do not want that to happen," she instructed Yukito.

"Hai." He opened the doors to leave, and was barreled over by Sakura, who yelped in surprise. He left, closing the door behind him, leaving Touya, Kaho, and Sakura.

"What? What was it?" Sakura asked.

She recieved silence as an answer.

"Well?"

More silence.

"Why aren't you answering? Onii-chan? Mizuki-hime?"

"Sakura," Touya finally said. "The Li Kingdom, they..."

"They what?"

"They have declared wizards and witches a threat to their kingdom."

"No!"

"Yes."

**/In the town.../**

A boy with brown hair and brown eyes glanced around. He was dressed in plain-looking clothes.

"Syaoran-kun," a voice said, causing him to jump. He turned to see a navy-haired boy with azure eyes.

"Eriol-kun! Don't do that!" He cried. Eriol just adjusted his glasses.

"Don't do what?"

"Sneak up on me, that's what!"

"I did?"

"Yes!"

"No!" Eriol cried in mock horror.

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"N-"

"Excuse me, why are you two arguing in the middle of the road?"

"What?" They both turned to see a navy-haired girl with amethyst eyes staring curiously at them. She looked to be about the same age as the two of them.

"Shouldn't you two be arguing at home? I'm Tomoyo, by the way," she added, smiling cutely at them. They both stared strangely at her.

"Okay..."

"Nice to meet you!" She beamed.

"Uh... nice to meet you too..." Syaoran said awkwardly.

"A pleasure," Eriol said, lifting her hand and kissing it. Syaoran watched her face turn red. _Must he always annoy me with this kind of stuff?_ He wondered.

"So... what brings you two to the market?"

"Uh... not much. Eriol wanted to see that variety store."

"Oh! You mean Odds and Ends? That's over there! I'll show you!"

And the little girl named Tomoyo began dragging both of them to the store.

**/Owari/ **

And that is the end of chapter 1. I hope it was good...

(1) - It just basically means 'Sakura is not a monster' - Sakura says this often in the TV show if you listen.

(2) - little sister.


	2. Brief Exchanges

Aaaand... here we go! Chapter 2! Man... I'm tired. I can't sleep! Oh, and by the way, I posted review replies at my LJ. Just so all of you know.

This chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer, **sakura li 19**! Thank you for being the only one that bothered to review!

Edit: Thank you to **Stick-Man Smith** for pointing out a math error for me. I knew I did something wrong...

Disclaimer: Me? Own CCS? I can't even draw Sakura _properly_, for pete's sake!**  
**

_**/Chapter 2: Brief Exchanges/**__**  
**_

Eriol's eyes widened.

"Wow! There are so many things here!" Syaoran just rolled his eyes. His cousin was being a pain again.

This shop was ridiculously small-looking on the outside, but it was _huge_ inside. One had to wonder how they did it.

"Where do they get all this stuff?" Eriol asked, voicing his thoughts. _He probably doesn't realize that he's talking to himself... again, _Syaoran thought.

"Hey look! A sun-shaped key!" Eriol cried, beaming, showing it to Syaoran, who stared at it for a second. It was golden, and the head of it was shaped like a sun. Eriol studied it.

"I want this. Maybe it'll open that box I have." Eriol had had a funny red and golden box for a very long time, but he'd never been able to open it because there was no key to do so.

"Some of them are hand-crafted by people in the castle," the dark-haired girl said, pointing towards said castle through the window. Except it didn't look like much of a castle. It was more like a modest-sized house. "Others are found."

"How is _that_ a castle?" Syaoran demanded rudely.

"Well, it just... is," Tomoyo said rather lamely.

"It looks _nothing_ like a castle!"

"Like you'd know what an actual castle looks like!"

"I do, in fact!" Syaoran protested.

"Really?" She asked, a devious grin on her face. "Does that mean you've been to the Li Kingdom?" That shut Syaoran up, knowing that the topic of being from the Li Kingdom was a taboo in the Mizuki Kingdom. They may have an alliance, but tensions were fairly high between the two kingdoms. The grin soon transformed into an innocent smile as she turned to look for... whatever she was looking for.

"I never did catch your names," she suddenly said out of the blue. Syaoran blinked. She'd just changed the topic of conversation!

"Er... I'm Syaoran..." He said. Being vaguely anti-social, he'd never been too good with introductions.

"Eriol," said the navy-haired boy, who was still browsing.

"And you probably remember my name! I'm Tomoyo!"

"Hn." From the other side of the shelf, Eriol let out a small sigh. Syaoran had just become anti-social again. He fingered the key in his hands. It felt special. He _had_ to buy it.

"Ano... Tomoyo-san? Do you know where I can pay for this?" The seven-year-old blinked at his question.

"Ano... Shoki-san? Where are you?" A man with dark hair and hazel eyes poked his head out from behind a shelf to see who'd called him.

"Oh? It's Tomoyo-chan! What can I do for you?"

"He wants to buy something! And... oh! Did that order come in?"

"Ah... yes... let me see..." Shoki's finger glowed a light blue color, and in a swirl of blue, bolts of cloth started flying out from the back room.

"Here it is, Tomoyo-chan."

"How much are they?" He looked thoughtfully at the price tags. An abacus materialized in a blue glow and the beads moved as he scanned them. He turned to the abacus and began counting.

"Eh... that'd be 100 green sparks..." He said finally. Tomoyo's glance dropped to the floor.

"Oh... I only have 300 red, 50 yellow... 20 blue... and 20 violet..." She opened a small sack and little glowing diamond-shaped objects fell out. They glowed different colors as they spilled across the floor. Tomoyo cupped them to prevent them from spilling anywhere she wouldn't be able to get them. Syaoran's eyes widened. She was carrying a lot of money around with her!

"Oh? That's quite a bit you have there, Tomoyo-chan! You _should_ be able to afford it..." Actually, Tomoyo could afford a lot of them. Syaoran vaguely remembered counting money denominations, with red as the lowest and white as highest. Each spark was supposed to be worth more than the one before it (explained more in detail at bottom). Obviously, Tomoyo hadn't been properly instructed yet. Syaoran wondered what she spent her time doing if she had so much. _I could help her, if she wanted me too_... he thought, staring at the girl that was scrambling to figure out the money denominations.

"Ah! I'm so bad at this! Syaoran-kun, could you help me? Onegai?" Syaoran jumped in surprise. It was as if she'd read his mind! Eriol was busy trying to figure out where he'd put his money.

"Aa," he managed to get out. Tomoyo took it as a 'yes'.

"Arigatou!" She cried, beaming. "I can never do this! I have to learn it sometime!" Syaoran raised an eyebrow, as he shuffled through the glowing objects scattered on the floor.

Eriol came over to help, scooping them up and placing them on a low shelf. Syaoran followed suit, carefully making sure none of them would fall. Tomoyo awkwardly tried to help by seperating them into color groups.

**/Back in the Mizuki Castle.../**

"That can't be true! That can't!" Sakura was still mortified.

"Sakura-chan, you need to calm down," Kaho said, her golden eyes fixed on Sakura's emerald ones.

"Dame! Dame! (2)" She cried.

"Sakura!" Touya yelled, grabbing his younger sister by the shoulders. "It does you no good to scream, got it?" She looked up at him with teary eyes.

"D-demo! Okaa-san and Otou-san!"

"Look, Sakura! The Li Kingdom is forbidden to attack here unless they're willing to break a peace treaty! They don't want that!" Touya explained.

"What if they did? Huh?" Touya was surprised at how perceptive she was. The Li Kingdom could actually easily break that treaty and kill them all. He tried not to think about that.

"Sakura, you just don't understand monarchies and magic types, do you?"

"I do too!"

"You obviously don't!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!" Kaho sweatdropped. Since when did the argument turn into a toddler's war?

"Chil - I mean - you two should stop arguing. How about you two find some way to get some alone time, away from each other? We can discuss this later," she stated casually, interrupting the war.

"Fine!" They both shouted. Sakura stuck her tongue out at her older brother childishly before leaving. The double doors slammed shut behind her. Kaho turned to Touya.

"These rules are growing increasingly ridiculous," she told him. "I hope the Li Kingdom gets some sense soon. The only threats they see are the witches and wizards, because of how their power is distributed."

"It's a shame..." Touya muttered in response. "They should find a way to fix this before it gets out of hand." Kaho nodded in agreement.

"But... I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon..." Kaho said, moving to one of the stained-glass windows to see Sakura running off the castle grounds into the town, remembering when her family first came to her castle.

**/Back in the town.../**

"Arigato, Syaoran-kun, Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo cried, smiling and waving. "I'll get my okaa-san to help me with money, so next time I won't need to ask you for help! Ja ne!" Syaoran blinked. _How strange,_ he thought absently.

"Un. Ja." Eriol smacked Syaoran in the head.

"What kind of farewell is that? Be nicer, like this!" He turned to Tomoyo. "Ja ne, Tomoyo-san." Then he leaned in, pulling her left hand forward, and kissed her hand, causing Syaoran to roll his eyes and Tomoyo to blink in surprise. Eriol and Syaoran then left.

_What was that?_ Tomoyo wondered, before turning and running off in the other direction, towards 'home', the castle. She ran into Sakura.

"Oh, hello, Sakura-chan! How are you today?" Sakura stopped and stared at Tomoyo.

"Great, great," she said absently. "If you'll excuse me, I need to find a store..." She ran off. Tomoyo blinked, and continued running. The Kinomoto girl was definitely acting weird...

Sakura stopped outside a bakery. She pushed the door open, looking around for the owner.

"Oh! Oh! Terada-san!" Sakura cried with a smile. "Ohayou!" The brown-haired man turned to see Sakura, leaning on the counter.

"Oh, hello, Kinomoto-san," he greeted pleasantly.

"Could I have a slice of carrot cake?" She asked politely, placing two yellow sparks on the counter.

"Sure!" He turned to get a knife to cut the cake with. "How's the castle?"

"New proclamation from the Li Kingdom," was all Sakura said. He raised an eyebrow.

"That can't be good. Would you like a box?"

"It's not. Yes please. Could you insert some napkins?" He nodded, putting down the knife. He smiled secretly to himself. For a seven-year old, Sakura was pretty bright. _It must be from tutoring..._ he thought absently.

"So, what's the proclamation?" He asked, reaching for a white box.

"Witches and wizards are to be burned at the stake," Sakura replied sadly. He handed her the white box, placing the two yellow sparks in the register.

"No questions?" Sakura shrugged.

"I dunno, but I don't like the new law..." Sakura said. "Thanks for the cake!" She turned to leave, and nearly ran into a brown-haired boy and his companion, a navy-haired boy with glasses.

"Watch where you're going," the boy said rudely. Sakura nodded absently, hugging the white box in her arms to her chest.

"Gomen nasai," she apologized, brushing past them. The brown-haired boy turned to stare at her as she left the store. He then turned back to the counter.

"What would you like?" The bakery owner asked. Syaoran took in all the delicacies lying under the counter before picking.

"I'll have a chocolate eclair," he replied finally.

"Coconut cake, for me, if you will," said Eriol with a smile.

**/Back to the castle... again.../**

Tomoyo managed to reach the seamstress's room, pulling it open.

"I got the cloth!" She announced proudly. One of the seamstresses, Kyou, came over to examine the cloth.

"You might have to get some trim or something." There was a pause. "Actually, I can do that tomorrow."

"Okay!" Tomoyo said cheerfully. Secretly, she was upset, because she wanted to go out again and see the two boys.

She frowned absently. Those boys were both definitely from the Li Kingdom.

She was sure of it.

**/Owari/**

And... the end of chapter 2. Not very good, I think...

(1) It's another way to say father. I just can't see Eriol going "Otou-san! Otou-san!", so I decided to use this instead.

(2) No way! No way!

* * *

**/_Bonus Section:_ _Money Denominations_/**

Money in this world is called 'sparks'. They are basically diamond-shaped glowing objects that float on your hand. There are seven colors.

**Red** is the lowest. We will give it the value one.

**Orange** is after red. It's five times the value of red. We will give it the value five.

**Yellow** is after orange. It's twice the amount of orange. We will give it the value 10.

**Green** is after yellow. It's five times the value of yellow. We will give it the value 50.

**Blue** is after green. It's twice the value of green. We will give it the value 100.

**Violet** is after blue. It's twice the value of blue. We will give it the value 200.

**White** is worth the most. It's five times the amount of violet. We will give it the value 1000.

In Tomoyo's case, she has 300 red, 50 yellow, 20 blue, and 20 violet. Since red's value is 1, she has a total of 300 so far.

Yellow's value is 10. Multiply the amount that she has (50) by 10, and add it to the 300 she has so far, she'll have 800.

Blue has the value 100, so multiply that by the amount she has, add it to 800, and she has 1800.

Violet has the value 200, multiply that by the amount she has, and add it to the 1800 she has now, and she'll have 6800.

The amount of the object she's going to buy costs 100 green sparks. That would be equivalent to 5000 red, 1000 orange, half of a blue, a fourth of a violet, and 1/200 of a white.

Therefore, she can afford it. (If any of my math was wrong, please correct me in a review!)


	3. Reflections

Ahahaha... I'm late again in updating... ah, well...

Special thanks to: **rukz, sakura li 19, JNX, **and** Musette Fujiwara,** who reviewed my last chapter!

Disclaimer: I no own Card Captor Sakura. Er... that is... I no don't own... Ah... I won't not... ARGH! I _don't_ own CCS! THERE!

**/Chapter 3: _Reflections_/**

Sakura sat quietly in the courtyard of the garden, staring at the clouds. The carrot cake, which was sitting on her lap in the opened box, lay untouched. She was trying to keep her mind off of that horrible rule that she'd heard about.

_Maybe I should go visit that new store next time I go to town..._ she mused, looking back down at her cake. She lifted the fork and experimentally poked the carrot design on the frosting. Four holes were poked right through the orange carrot.

Sakura let out a sigh, leaning back against the tree she was sitting under. A few pink petals drifted past her face, carried by the wind. Sakura made a mental note to ask her Onii-san for the name of this tree - her favorite of all the trees in the entire courtyard. It sat on the banks of a pond, and if Sakura looked closely, she could see the koi fish that made their home there. Sakura glanced back down at the cake.

_I should eat this already!_ And with that decisive thought, she stabbed her fork into the frosting of the cake, scooping it up and putting it in her mouth. She smiled. _Terada-san's really are the best... _

Sakura remembered when she'd first gone into the pastry store, looking for something to eat. She'd been five then.

**_"Ne, ne! Excuse me, what's your name?" Waves hands in excitement.  
_**

**_"Terada Yoshiyuki. Call me Terada-san, okay? What's yours?"_**

**_"Sakura!"_**

**_"Oh, that's a pretty name."_**

**_"Yep! Okaa-san named me that because she said that was her favorite thing!" Big grin.  
_**

**_"Oh, really?" Polite smile.  
_**

**_"She was so happy when she had me, she said." Pause. "Why aren't you happy?"_**

_**"Ah, well, I dunno..."**  
_

And after that, she'd gone and visited again and again, always deciding to try something different, always trying to strike a conversation.

**_"Then what did you want to be?"_**

**_"I wanted to be a scholar, and teach someone about the things in the world."_**

**_"Hoe?" Quirks head._**

**_"Ah, well, I wanted to teach students - tell them about the living things in this world, the Origin - you know, things like that!"_**

**_"The Origin? My okaa-san told me about that!"_**

**_"Oh, really?"_**

Sakura had heard the story of the Origin for as long as she could remember, begging her mother to tell it to her before going to sleep, insisting that her onii-chan read her various books and theories on it, trying to understand this phenomenon that was the Origin.

However, it hadn't helped much - only detailing what she'd already learned from the legend. And that hadn't been much either.

Sakura let out a small sigh, dipping her fork back into her cake and cutting another small, bite-size piece from it. She gently inserted it into her own mouth.

_I wonder..._ she thought, as a cloud floated by overhead.

**/Tomoyo's location.../**

"Eh? Tomoyo-chan, you're back!" Rika cried cheerfully.

"Un," Tomoyo replied, smiling as she picked up a fountain pen and a sketchpad. She began to draw, scribbling a few things and scratching out others. Rika turned back to sewing the brown doll that was on her lap. Tomoyo looked up finally.

"What's that?" Rika blinked a couple of times.

"I dunno! I just saw it in one of the books in the library. I think the name started with a 'b'..."

"Oh! I know! It's... it's..." There was a silence. Rika went back to her sewing. And then...

"It's a_ bear_!" Startled, Rika missed her target and poked her needle into her finger.

"Ah!" A small drop of red blood appeared.

"Gomen!" Tomoyo cried, looking embarrassed. Rika just offered Tomoyo a small smile.

"It's alright," she said, standing. "It's a small wound. A medic should be able to heal it." Tomoyo looked thoughtful. Then she reached into the pocket of her robe.

"I have a salve, would you like to use it?" She asked, offering a small brown plastic container to Rika. Rika accepted it, carefully putting some on her finger. The blood and the tiny wound disappeared. Rika turned back to Tomoyo, smiling.

"See? No problem!"

"Oh, okay. Oh no!" Rika blinked.

"Nani?" She asked. Tomoyo looked up.

"My sketch is ruined!" Her fountian pen had spilled its ink, staining the formerly white paper. Tomoyo let out a sigh. "I'll just have to draw another one..." Rika watched as Tomoyo drew a little girl in princess-like clothing. The girl had short hair and a familiar smile.

"Is... that... Sakura-san?" Tomoyo nodded, adding a pair of shoes. "Why are you drawing Sakura-san in the clothes?"

"I saw her in town today, and she looked oddly distracted. I can't get it off my mind," Tomoyo replied seriously. "Normally, she's really estatic and hyper." Rika nodded in agreement. Stars appeared in Tomoyo's eyes.

"And besides, she's so kawaii-looking in this outfit!" Rika crashed to the floor from that statement.

"Eh? Rika-chan? Daijoubu?"

There was no movement from the brown-haired girl.

**/Location unknown.../  
**

"You don't have to do this, you know."

"I do. They said."

"No you don't! I won't let you."

"I have to. You need to understand."

"So I have to watch you go and accept your death like this? I know that when we married it was forbidden, and we lied to our children about it, but..."

"Just let me! Understand that I feel I need to do this!"

"And let your family suffer?"

"I want you to promise not to pine over me. That's all."

"I will, it's just -"

"Give it up. I'm going. It's my way of making it up to them."

"By dying? I think they'd prefer you live!"

"You heard them last time. They want me dead. I'm a threat. And so are my children."

"So you'll sacrifice yourself for them?"

"I have to."

"Stop saying you have to. You don't."

"Too bad. I'm going."

"Nadeshico -"

"Fujitaka. I'm going." There was a sigh.

"Alright. I really can't argue with you, can I?"

"Arigatou." The door swung open, spilling light on the two of them - a gray-haired woman and a brown-haired man with glasses. The woman left, shutting the door behind her. The man put his hand on his face.

"Nadeshico..."

_What have I done?_

**/Owari/**

Ah... this chapter is sooo short! It's _half_ the length of my regular chapters! (cries)

I feel sad about that... sooo... I'm going to do my best to get another story up in the CCS section!


	4. Simple Things and Something More

Hello! I'm very late with updating! And just so you know, I have two (yes, two) reasons why.

1. My wireless adapter broke, and it took my dad about three weeks to decide that it was a better idea to just go and get a new one, and

2. My new connection is insanely slow.

So please, bear with me!

**Please note that most of my review replies are posted on my LJ, dreamtiny . livejournal . com** (remove spaces, obviously).

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. If I did, I'd probably be releasing chapters at a regular rate instead of an on-and-off pattern.**  
**

**/---/**_  
_

_Kinomoto Fujitaka wasn't sure what to do. His wife was off to go and get herself killed, and he was sitting there, in the study, reading the announcement issued by the Li Kingdom._

_She'd owed them her life, she said._

_She wanted to do something for others, she'd said._

_How did going off and getting herself killed do anything for her?_

_For anyone else?_

_Including herself. _

_**/Chapter 4: Simple Things and Something More/**_

Tomoyo stared at the dress she'd made, deciding that it was her best work yet.

It was a pale green dress, with thin translucent wings attached to where the bodice ended and the skirt began. The bottom half of the dress was plain, missing the general frills and sequins that Tomoyo normally added on to the dress.

She let out a squeal, hugging the dress. "I'll _have_ to get Sakura-chan to try this on!" She cried, tossing it in the air and catching it.

She ran off to find Sakura.

**/---/**

_She had to be crazy, he'd decided._

_Why would she do something like that?_

_He didn't want her to leave._

_That much was obvious. _

**/The courtyard.../**

Sakura leaped, trying to catch one of the petals falling from the tree. She missed and stumbled, landing with a splash into the pond.

"Itai..." She groaned, rubbing the back of her head. She glanced at the clothes she'd been wearing.

"They're all wet," she said, sighing. "Oh well..." She began a futile attempt at squeezing the water out of her clothes.

"Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan!" A voice called out. "I found you!" Sakura turned to see Tomoyo, waving wildly with a green dress clutched in her other arm. "Come try this on!"

"Eh?" Was the intelligent response.

**/---/**

_Maybe at some point, he felt that she had needed to do what she wanted._

_But it wasn't what he wanted._

**/Mizuki castle.../**

"Ohmygoshthisissocuteonyou!" Tomoyo squealed, adjusting the wings. They were in her office of sorts, where she spent time sketching her designs.

"Nani?" Sakura asked blankly, turning to look in the mirror.

"Kawaii!" Tomoyo squealed, stepping back, admiring her work. "It looks great on you!"

"Ano... what am I wearing?"

"A dress! I designed it!" Tomoyo exclaimed proudly, hands on her hips.

The only line that got through to Sakura was the 'I designed it' part.

"Sugoi!" Sakura cried, impressed. Tomoyo beamed.

"I love to design!" Well, that was obvious, judging from all the sketchbooks lying around. Sakura shifted, unsure of what to say.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. Want to do me a favour?" Tomoyo asked, staring directly at Sakura's emerald eyes.

"Nani?"

"Come shopping with me!"

"Alright..." Sakura replied uncertainly, stepping off the wooden stool and following Tomoyo out of the room.

**/The center of town.../  
**

"Ah! Tomoyo-chan! Matte!" Sakura ran through the streets, trying to catch up with the running dark-haired girl that was currently running through the streets. At least she'd remembered to change back into regular clothes, or she would've looked ridiculous running through the streets.

Why had she agreed to go on this shopping trip with Tomoyo, known for her love of clothing shopping - even though she didn't wear nice clothes that often - but still, why?

Oh yeah, she'd asked.

"Hoe!" Sakura cried when she ran into someone. "Gomen nasai!" She cried, bowing over and over again, keeping her eyes on the ground.. The person grabbed her wrist before she could run off after Tomoyo again.

"Who are you? This has to be the second time you've run into me. Apologize properly," the voice ordered, and Sakura could tell it was a boy. She turned to see the brown-haired boy from the bakery.

"Ah, I'm Sakura!" She said, extending a hand. "And I'm in a rush!"

"Syaoran," he said cooly. "Have you seen a dark-haired boy? He has glasses and the most annoying personality." Sakura shook her head.

"Gomen nasai," she said, "I need to find Tomoyo-chan."

"Tomoyo?" He repeated.

"Hai! Do you know her? She wanted me to go shopping with her! I should've remembered onii-san's warnings..."

"Uh... I don't know where she is..."

"Oh..." Sakura let out a sigh. "I guess I'll just go to Odds and Ends then..." She turned to leave, but Syaoran grabbed her wrist.

"Not until you apologize. Properly."

"Ara?" Sakura asked

"Don't make funny noises. Surely you know the proper way to apologize," he snapped, crossing his arms.

"Wouldn't 'gomen' work just fine?" She demanded, glaring at him. He just stared straight through her, causing her to shiver. That look of his was scary...

"No, I want a proper apology. Say 'gomen nasai, Syaoran-san,'" he ordered. She let out an irritated huff.

"Gomen nasai Syaoran-san," she repeated in a robotic manner.

"Say it like you mean it," he snapped. She exhaled irritably.

"Gomen nasai, Syaoran-san," she repeated, in a more sincere-sounding voice.

"Better," he said, watching Sakura run off. The second she disappeared around the corner, Tomoyo showed up.

"Ne, Syaoran. Have you seen a girl with shoulder-length hair and green eyes?"

"You mean Sakura?"

"Hai! Wait... did you run into Sakura-chan?"

"Yup." _Literally, in fact, _he thought dryly.

"Where'd she go?"

"Odds and - !" Syaoran couldn't say any more, as Tomoyo suddenly grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off with her.

**/Odds and Ends.../**

"Ano... sumimasen (1), but where are the books?" Shoki looked up to see Sakura staring at him. He pointed to his left.

"Over there." She bowed, and with a quick "Arigatou," she walked off. She began to run her finger along the bookshelf until...

_The Clow? What's this? Why's it glowing like that?_ She pulled the book off of the shelf, staring at it. It was a leather-bound book, red in color with gold writing and symbols.

"Excuse me, sir, but what is this book?" Sakura asked politely, showing it to him.

"Oh, that is a very ancient book, said to hold the secrets of the famous sorcerer, Clow Reed." Sorcerer? Sakura flinched at the word. She hated sorcerers. Well, most of them, anyways.

Yukito, Nakuru, and Kaho didn't count.

**/---/**

_So if that wasn't what he wanted..._

_What did he want?_

**/Owari/**

Eh... if this was at all confusing, let me know.

Sorry about the short chapter! I wanted to add the rest, but I figured it'd be slightlly too long, so I didn't.

(1) - Excuse me

Enjoy the bonus!_  
_

**/Bonus: Preview/**

_As amends for not giving all you readers a longer chapter, I will instead give you all a preview of The Other Side of Me. Hurray!_

_Just so you know, this is a preview, not the whole story._

Disclaimer (Just for the record): I still don't own CCS. Sorry, I tried, but they rejected my petition.

* * *

The recent test scores had been posted on the board, listing from the top score to the lowest. 

My name was first on the list, having scored a perfect score.

I expected no less.

* * *

I suppose I should introduce myself. Daidouji Tomoyo, age 14, first year of high school in class 1-B. Dark hair down past my shoulders, amethyst eyes, and a love for video taping. 

"Tomoyo-chan!"

Especially of a certian person.

"Tomoyo-chan! I made it on to the list!"

She came running over, her auburn hair bouncing up and down with every step, her dark green eyes shining brightly. This was the said person. Kinomoto Sakura. Happy and cheerful, and although she's incredibly dense, her personality can change within a second, depending on the people and cicumstances.

She sat down at the desk to the left of me, beaming.

"Baka. I bet you were the last one on the list," The boy who sat behind her grumbled, glaring at her. This was one of those people. Circumstace? Annoying Sakura-chan. Result?

"I was not!" She retorted, turning around in her seat to glare at him.

See for yourself.

"With the lowest score!"

"I didn't do _that_ badly!" Sakura-chan retorted defensively.

"Oh yeah? How did you do?" The brown haired boy demanded.

"98th! Beat that, Li-san!" Li Syaoran-san rolled his dark brown eyes.

"Third." Sakura-chan sank her head in defeat.

"Fine. You win." Li-san, not expecting that, was blinking rapidly.

"Wha -"

"I give! You're better than me in school, anyways," she muttered, turning back around.

"..." Li-san made no response.

Hiiragizawa Eriol-san came over, sitting down behind me.

"I see you've made first again," he said cheerfully. I turned. He wore glasses that obscured my view of his face (well, his eyes, anyways), and he had dark hair, sort of an azure shade. He smiled at me, tilting his head slightly.

In all honesty, he'd recieved the same score as me. I was just listed first because my last name came first.

I glanced at his face. That smile seemed forced to me. Was he jealous?

Maybe it was just me...

* * *

Li Meiling-san came in some time after, sitting down at the desk to my right; her ruby eyes on fire - figuratively, of course. Her long black hair was down. This was unusual. She seemed to be glaring at Li-san furiously. 

"Baka Syaoran-kun! I'll kill him! Didn't wait for me at all..." She added in an undertone as she attempted to tie her hair into two Chinese-style pigtails.

"Left without you again?"

"You bet!" She snapped, yanking a red-colored band around one of the pigtails, twisting it around.

"Must be terrible," I replied.

"So, how did you do on the mid-terms?

"Terrible," Meiling replied dryly. "30th, all because I suck at Japanese."

"Oh." What else could I say? Being someone who always made top scores, I couldn't share my sentiments with her.

I sort of hated that.

The bell rang for lunch some point after that (I never bothered to keep track), and we headed outside for lunch.

* * *

Unfortunately, that's all I have for now! Adieu! 


	5. Sudden Shock

Hey everyone! I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating in so long!

Here's a chapter for you!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. I do, however, own these disclaimers (doesn't mean you can't use them!) that I type.**  
**

**/_Chapter 5: Sudden Shock_/**

Eriol, who had been found outside a locksmith's store staring into the window, was now being forcibly dragged towards Odds and Ends by one Daidouji Tomoyo along with Syaoran.

And she pulled pretty hard, too!

"Ow! Ow! Let go!" He shouted, as she proceeded to drag him across the street. Every once in a while his and Syaoran's heads would collide, so now one of them had a bruised forehead, and one of them had a bruised cheek.

Then they were pretty much run into the wall of the store as Tomoyo released Syaoran, whose momentum caused him to hit Eriol. Now both their bodies were probably covered all over with bruises.

"Ow..." They both muttered in tandem, laying prone on the ground.

Tomoyo shoved the door open, startling a brown-haired girl who was just about to leave. Her glasses nearly fell off.

"Oops! Gomen nasai!" Tomoyo cried, turning to grab both Syaoran and Eriol, who were both rubbing their heads and wincing in pain. The girl just nodded and left through the wooden doors.

"Tomoyo-san..." Syaoran groaned, in pain. "That hurt..."

"Gomen!" She apologized, turning back into the store with both of them in tow. They found Sakura staring at her hands. She appeared to be turning something invisible over.

"Uh... Sakura-chan? What are you doing?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura held up _The Clow_ to show the three of them. Out of the three of them, only Eriol reacted.

"_The Clow?_" He asked. Tomoyo and Syaoran both turned to stare at him. What was he talking about?

"Uh-huh. It just... sorta caught my attention." Sakura turned the invisible object around and around in her hands. Tomoyo and Syaoran blinked slowly. What could Eriol and Sakura see that they couldn't?

"I think I'm going to get it," Sakura said decisively, walking off. When she'd disappeared out of earshot, Tomoyo asked,

"What was it?"

"I dunno," Syaoran replied, trying to step around one of the shelves, shifting through the objects. A spinning top, handmade paper, pressed flowers... who _made_ all of these things? "I didn't see it," he added. Eriol turned to stare at them.

"It was a book," Eriol replied. "It was red. How could you two _not_ see it?" There was a long silence from Syaoran and Tomoyo.

"I can't believe it! You two honestly can't see it?" Eriol asked, surprised.

"Obviously, Eriol-baka," Syaoran shot back.

Eriol fell silent, turning and walking off. Tomoyo stared as he disappeared behind a row of shelves.

"Will he be alright?" She asked. Syaoran scoffed.

"If I didn't think he would be alright, I would have followed him," he replied, glaring at the spot where Eriol had disappeared. Tomoyo stared at him doubtfully.

"If you say so..."

**/Time Skip/**

Sakura walked out of the store, staring at the red book in silence. It was such a strange book - it had a keyhole but no key; she'd even asked. And stranger still, both Tomoyo and her friend - Syaoran, was it? - couldn't see the book, but the other boy could. Strange how that worked out...

She turned the book over and over again, studying it.

Sakura blinked all of a sudden. What had happened to the symbols - the moon on the back and the sun on the front? Weren't they there before?

The book started glowing again. Unbeknownst to Sakura, Eriol had appeared right behind her, looking tired.

Sakura stared hard at the book.

What was going on?

"Sakura-san... was it?" Eriol mumbled from behind, touching her shoulder. Sakura jumped.

"HOE!" Eriol quickly stepped back... and vanished. Sakura turned around to see... no one?

"A ghost? Hoe..." Sakura shuddered. She was so afraid of ghosts.

So very afraid...

**/Syaoran and Tomoyo.../**

"Where is he?" Syaoran asked, running through the store, searching for Eriol.

"You said he'd be okay," Tomoyo accused, avoiding people.

"That was before he disappeared!"**  
**

**/Eriol/**

Stars dotted the space of nothingness. The man sighed, staring at the wide space around him. The boy was coming. He could sense it.

Fzzt...

Eriol blinked into existence, falling to the ground. He sat up, staring at the mysterious man in front of him. The man moved toward Eriol.

"Seems you've unlocked your power earlier than I expected..." The man said smiling, patting Eriol on the head. He had an enigmatic aura about him.

"What - who are you?" Eriol asked, stumbling over his words.

"You don't need to know who I am. However, I know who you are. Hiiragizawa Eriol, part of the Li family."

"How - I - never -" Eriol stopped himself, staring at the ground in silence. "I never told anyone my real last name - not even my stepfather..." He then looked up. "How could you know my last name?" The man laughed.

"I know many things. Things you should know. And things you will find out." The man held out the sun key that Eriol had bought earlier. "Didn't you lose this?" Eriol perked up.

"Where'd you find this? I've been looking everywhere!" The man stared at him.

"You should return to your dimension," was all he said. Eriol felt himself being jerked out of existence again.

He reappeared in front of Tomoyo, who crashed rather painfully into him.

"Ow! ...Eriol?" She asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh... hi," he mumbled. He blinked, adjusting his glasses. "Could you get off of me?"

"Uh..." Realizing the position they were in, she quickly got off and extended a hand to help him.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," he said, grabbing her hand.

"Ah, no... no problem..." Tomoyo said, pulling him up. Syaoran made his way around one of the cluttered shelves.

"There you are! Where were you?" Eriol stared at him for a moment.

"Nowhere!" He replied, smiling. Tomoyo and Syaoran stared at him.

"...You're kidding," they both said. Eriol shrugged.

_They'd never believe me, anyways..._

**/The castle.../**

"Oh, the kaijuu's back. Welcome home - itai!" Sakura pushed her foot down on his on her way through the hallway. Rika, who was watching, sweatdropped.

"Ano, Sakura-san? What was that?" Sakura pretended to look innocent.

"...Nothing!" Rika blinked.

"Okay," she replied, confused. She walked off to the sewing room. She had a huge project due.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief before turning around and walking into her father. He looked as if he'd been deliberating something too much. He was holding a box.

"Sakura, I have sad news for you. And Touya." Touya, hearing his name, went over to stand next to Sakura. Fujitaka held the box, opening it.

Inside were ashes.

"Your mother was burned at the stake." Sakura's eyes widened.

_No... no way... _she thought, horrified._  
_

**/Owari/**

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!

(That was 100, by the way)

Ahh! I tried so hard in updating and hit a huge block! Term 2 is killer! Hopefully I'll be able to finish another chapter for Valentine's day (great, a 2-day window)!

...And I still have to update my review replies in my LJ - you should know where to find it by now!

See you next chapter!


	6. The Sky

This chapter is basically dedicated to my two very nice reviewers, SnowCharms and Fallen from the sky.

I really appreciated those reviews! Here's to hoping I wrote something good!

Sorry about completely overshooting my update goal!

**Edit: I edited this chapter a bit, those of you who read it may want to read it again - especially the bonus(es).**

Disclaimer: Owning CCS is a privilage given to the creators - CLAMP. I am in no way a part of CLAMP.

**/_Chapter 6: The Sky_/  
**

Sakura was in shock.

"This has to be a lie! It has to!" She cried, running off. Tears were falling from her eyes.

_The Clow_ fell to the ground, hitting the floor. Touya didn't react, walking away. However, his father leaned over.

"What's this?" He mumbled, touching it. A flash erupted from the book, knocking him back.

"Ah!" He cried, falling to the ground. The book vanished before his eyes. He blinked.

_What was that? Where'd it go? _He wondered.

Little did he know that it was actually still there...

**/Sakura.../**

She was crying, her tears soaking into her pillow. Why had she left? What had happened? For a seven-year-old girl like Sakura, this was a huge shock for her mother to have died.

She curled up into a fetal position, rocking back and forth. This was awful. How... how...

How could it have happened?

And how come no one stopped her?

**/Outside the castle.../**

"You guys should come visit! Come on!" This was Tomoyo speaking. Now Syaoran was wondering why he'd agreed. The castle was kind of dinky-looking, in his opinion.

Not to say that_ Eriol_ wasn't amazed or anything. That guy was amazed by everything. It drove him crazy!

Tomoyo stared at the door for a few seconds before touching the doorknob. Syaoran was confused.

"Why were you staring at the door?" Tomoyo glanced at him.

"I was having a conversation," she replied.

"Wha-" But he was inturrupted by Eriol, who'd strolled right on inside.

"Wow! This is amazing! You live here, Tomoyo-san?" Tomoyo beamed in response to Eriol's question. Syaoran scoffed. It wasn't_ that_ amazing, and Eriol knew it. It was pretty plain, compared to where they were from.

"Hai! I do!" Now it was a smiling game, one that Syaoran wasn't part of. Mostly because he was against the whole smiling thing, which seemed strange to Tomoyo, since all of them were about seven.

"Eh? Why isn't Syaoran-kun smiling?"

"...I don't feel like it." Tomoyo blinked, and turned away. Syaoran stifled a yawn. He was awfully tired lately...

"You're weird," she commented. Syaoran stared at her. Her candor was appaling.

Eriol burst into a fit of coughing that sounded suspicously like laughter.

And Tomoyo just waltzed on ahead, searching for Sakura.

**/---/ **

_"I feel it is almost time. Bring her to me. She will know what she has to do."_

"Why? Why must I do this?"

_"I want her to do it. She is the only one."_

"He has sent me to get you."

"Who?"

_"Find a way to make her come. She should know the password."_

"The book."

"Huh?"

_"She should understand. If she does not seem to understand, just leave. She will follow."_

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"Somewhere only _you_ can come, Mizuki-san."

**/The castle.../**

Tomoyo stopped outside of her workroom.

"This is where I design clothing! Ultra-popular clothing!" Tomoyo was beaming. Tomoyo had always been so proud of her work ever since she started a year ago as a trainee. She opened the door. "Konnichiwa, minna-san!"

"Tomoyo-chan! You're back! Oh? Who are they?" Nanase, her supervisor asked.

"My friends!"

"Oh... that's so nice! How about you introduce them?"

"This is Eriol-kun, and this is Syaoran-kun," she introduced, indicating each in turn.

"Nice to meet you," Eriol said, bowing. Syaoran just stood there.

"You're supposed to bow!" Tomoyo said in a stage whisper, hitting him on the head. Syaoran's hand instantly reacted, grabbing hers. "Ow! Hey! Let go!" Tomoyo whispered, trying to pull away.

An unreadable expression passed quickly over Syaoran's face, and he released her. Tomoyo stumbled backwards, startled at the sudden release.

"Syaoran-kun?"

He collapsed, his amber eyes fluttering shut. His face was flushed.

"Oh no! Syaoran-kun!" Tomoyo cried, startled. Eriol glanced down at the fallen boy before staring deeply into Tomoyo's eyes.

"We should take him to a room. Is there anywhere -" He began to ask.

"Sakura's room! She lives here, so she should be able to let him in," Tomoyo suggested, as Eriol attempted to pick Syaoran up. Tomoyo pitched in to help.

They managed to drag him all the way to Sakura's room... to find it locked. Tomoyo knocked on the door.

"Sakura-chan? Will you open the door?" She asked cautiously, in case she was sleeping.

"GO AWAY!" Was the scream that erupted from the room, coupled with sobbing. Tomoyo exchanged a glance with Eriol.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Syaoran-kun's hurt! Onegai!" Tomoyo begged. There was a silence. The door clicked, and a completely normal-looking Sakura was at the door. There wasn't even a sign she'd been crying.

Tomoyo blinked. Had she been imagining the sobs? No, it couldn't be, because Eriol had heard them too... right?

Sakura didn't say a word as she helped Syaoran on to her bed. Her hand brushed his forehead. Quickly, she placed her hand on his forehead.

"He has a fever!"

**/Timeskip/**

It turned out the 'fever' was only a virus, and he got better after some medical treatment by a medic. The three of them, who had been worrying, calmed down.

The medic, who was working on trying to help remove the virus, asked, "Did you guys know? A fortune-teller predicted four shooting stars would appear tonight! You four - when I manage to remove the virus, of course - should go see it." Shooting stars were a very rare astrological event in the area. Tomoyo was excited. She wanted to record it so badly.

"Do you have a magical recorder, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, I do." Sakura began rummaging through a trunk. Tomoyo studied Sakura silently. She was shaking. It was subtle, and only eyes like Tomoyo's, who studied things closely, could notice it. She had been shaking ever since they'd entered.

But Tomoyo was not stupid. She knew that if she asked Sakura, the medic would want to know about whatever was bothering her. And it was her personal business anyways.

The medic eventually left, leaving the four of them alone in the room. Sakura held up the magical recorder.

"Is this what you wanted?" Sakura asked.

"Hai, it was. Sakura-chan..." Sakura braced herself, guessing about what Tomoyo was going to ask. "Arigatou." Sakura let out a small sigh of relief.

"And Sakura-chan... what happened?" Sakura turned, trying to stay as nonchalant as possible.

"My mother died. Earlier today," she replied, trying not to get into any detail whatsoever.

"Oh," Tomoyo replied, seeing the pained expression on Sakura's face. "Come on, Eriol-kun, let's leave her alone for a bit, okay?" She whispered. Eriol nodded, and they both left.

Sakura sat faintly on the floor, her eyes unfocused as more tears welled up.

"How could you, okaa-san..." she whispered, as one of them rolled down her cheek and landed on the floor. She broke down crying once again.

Syaoran, who had been pretending to sleep ever since he'd heard her screaming earlier, felt sorry for the girl, even if he had no idea why she was crying.

**/Timeskip/**

"Look! Isn't this amazing?" Tomoyo asked. The four of them were outside in the courtyard, under the Sakura tree. Sakura was attempting to avoid even _glancing_ at Syaoran, who appeared completely unaware.

They were all staring at the stars, hoping to see the shooting stars the medic had mentioned.

"Oh look! There's one of them!" Sakura pointed out. It arced through the sky and disappeared. Another one appeared, shooting down. Syaoran blinked. These shooting stars were strange...

Seriously, how many shooting stars glowed random rainbow-like colors as they fell?

But whatever. Syaoran had noticed that Sakura was avoiding him ever since she'd left the bedroom. He didn't really understand. She'd been avoiding the other two as well, for some strange reason.

It wasn't that big of a problem.

Which was why it was bothering him so much.

"Wow!" Sakura cried, smiling. Syaoran turned to glance at the girl, her face lit up in excitement. It was sort of hard to believe that this girl had just been crying earlier that day.

It was nice to see Sakura smiling though, so he guessed that it was a good thing.

It wasn't like anything unexpected would happen to them.

Unbeknownst to Syaoran, something unexpected would happen. But not to him.

And not to Tomoyo, either.

No, this unexpected happening would only occur to Sakura and Eriol.

_Only Sakura and Eriol..._

**/_Bonus Section: The Clow_/**

_I opted to delete the former Bonus Section. Those who read it, pretend it never existed. The hyphens show a paragraph break, since the site won't allow indents.  
_

From _Freddie's Magical Facts_:

-_The Clow_ is a world-renowned book that, oddly enough, has never been read. It is the most well-known artifact that is said to have been used in the Great War of 1001 Deaths. One of those deaths is said to be the owner of the book, who was knighted Sir Clow Reed before his supposed death. As Sir Clow Reed was a rare breed of magical being, no one knows for sure whether or not he died. It's said that only his type of magic can see the book, and very few people in the world have it.  
-The book _has _been sighted, but only at times of great magical levels, such as the Attack of the Gryphons, when magical levels were at all-time highs, and the Disappearance of the Fairies. Also, some people have claimed to have seen it, but only when the book was glowing fiercely, releasing undectectable magical waves. The book is very hard to find, and apparently sends out these magical waves to find the person who is supposed to hold the book next. As to whether or not the person has been found, no one knows for sure.  
_Most reliable source._

From _Ancient War Tools_:

-_The Clow_ was a book used in the Great War of 1001 Deaths by a man named Clow Reed. Records say that he would whip out the book and read words from inside, creating powerful magical spells. He controlled these spells with a long golden staff, and so it is believed that Clow Reed is an incredibly powerful sorcerer. However, other sources claim that Clow Reed is a special magic-type, even though there are only three and techincally two: non-magical, wizard, and sorcerer. This, however, is not possible, as other magical types have not been recorded to exist.  
_Second most reliable source._

From Long Lost Legends:

-Many people consider a book called _The Clow_ to have the most challanged origins of all time. People argue over the contents of the book, from spells to incantations. The origin of Clow's magic is unknown, but is popularly believed to be sorcerer magic, as people believe that he had higher-class magic. Of course, research on his magic is still being conducted, so none of the information is considered definite.  
_Not very reliable, as it is very vague._

From a essay written by Takanara Aria(paragraph 2):

-One mystery that many historians ponder over is a book called _The Clow_. Apparently, this book was used in the Great War of 1001 Deaths by a magical person named Clow Reed. Contrary to popular belief, Clow Reed was not a sorcerer, and his book did not have writing in it. In fact, all his book had was a handy cutout for a deck of 52 cards with magical properties with a fancy-looking key that could become a staff to unlock it. People like to say that Clow Reed is a sorcerer, but most people who do say that are sorcerers themselves and are trying to prove that sorcerers are cool and of a higher class compared to wizards or non-magic people because they 'share' the exact same magic as a famous war hero. Clow Reed has, in fact, a different type of magic. His magic is what is considered ancient magic, very rare magic that is one type of magic mixed with another. There are only two official discoveries of magic, but there could possibly be more, so it is unknown at the time what his magic actually consists of.  
_Oddly enough, this excerpt is the most accurate._

**/Minichapter: Nadeshico's history/**

_This is just a little thing that could be a one-shot, but I'm going to stretch it out, since it holds major plotlines later in the story..._

She was a pretty girl.

Everyone had told him that. He hadn't believed it for himself, but now as he stood looking at the girl, he realized that they were all right.

The question was, how had she gone and gotten herself locked in the Li dungeon?

"Hello," he greeted politely, unable to tear his gaze away. "How are you?" She smiled faintly at him, her grey-blue hair swishing as she turned.

"Fine, thank you," she replied quietly, her golden eyes somehow dimmed by the emptiness of the dungeons.

The air around the two grew awkward, and all he could think of saying was, "Nice weather we've been having lately..." The smile grew.

"I wouldn't know; I haven't been outside in a week or so - it's a bit hard to keep time when you can't see the light of day," she replied. "It's fine though," she added, looking up. "I get to see light all the time down here."

"Oh," he replied, not knowing what to say. She turned away to stare at the wall again. "What's your name?" He asked abruptly.

She answered instantly. "Nadeshico." There was a pause.

"What, no last name?" He finally asked.

"I don't feel like telling you," she retorted, turning away again.

"Why not?" He demanded, his pride getting the best of him. How could she? He, as future leader of the Li Kingdom, had every right to know! She turned back again, smiling plesantly.

"Something really bad will happen!" He scowled.

"Liar," he replied. _I give up,_ he decided, turning away and leaving the dungeon.

"See you some other time -" The door to the dungeon slammed shut. "Although the last you'll probably ever see me is my execution..." She mumbled, the smile dissolving from her face.

She had no idea that he would visit her again.

**/Owari/**

I hope you enjoyed it!

Personally, I think it was pretty bad...

See you next time!


End file.
